Chapter One ─ The Science of Mind:
The Discipline of Psychology
I. INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
Chapter One Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Explain the subject matter that psychologists study,
addressing the meaning of mind and psychology’s
role as a hub science.
2. Analyze the respective contributions of philosophy
and the physical sciences as the “roots” of modern
psychology.
3. Compare and contrast the early movements in
psychology–structuralism, Gestalt psychology,
functionalism, behaviorism, psychodynamic theory,
and humanism–in terms of leading figures, core
principles, and contribution to modern psychology.
4. Differentiate the seven major perspectives of modern
mainstream psychology in terms of typical research
questions, research methods, and focal causes of
behavior.
5. Analyze the ways in which the seven major
perspectives can be integrated to address a single
psychological problem or topic.
6. Explain why psychology’s role as a “hub science”
allows psychologists to pursue a wide range of career
paths with respect to professional specialties and
research areas.
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The Matter of the Mind
Objective
§ LO1: Explain the subject matter that psychologists study, addressing the meaning
of mind and psychology’s role as a hub science.
§
Watch One or both of the following online videos:
• “Unraveling the Mysteries of the Mind.” (1999). Annenberg Learner.
http://www.learner.org/resources/series150.html?pop=yes&pid=1608
(1:36 to 11:00). [Accessed 25 May 2012].
• “V.S. Ramachandran on your Mind” (March 2007). TEDTalks.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/vilayanur_ramachandran_on_your_mind.ht
ml (23:38). [Accessed 25 May 2012].
1. What is unique about your mental world?
2. What did you find most compelling about Ramachandran’s lecture?
3. What do these disorders of the brain teach us about the mind?
4. What are your thoughts on creativity in light of this lecture?
5. We will use this to link to later class lectures too!
2
Lecture: What Is Psychology?
Objective
§ LO1: Explain the subject matter that psychologists study, addressing the meaning
of mind and psychology’s role as a hub science.
Psychological science provides us with explanations for behavior that we otherwise
might not know from direct observation alone. Psychology consists of multiple
perspectives (e.g., developmental, social, and biological) that, when integrated, give us a
broader context for understanding human behavior.
1. What Is Psychology?
• Psychological scientists view the mind as a way of talking about the brain and its
activities, including thought, emotion, and behavior.
• The word psychology is a combination of two Greek words: psyche (or psuche),
or the soul (“soul” in Ancient Greece was closer to our modern conception of
mind), and logos, the study of, literally translated to the study of the mind.
• Today, psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental
processes.
• “Behavior” refers to any action that we can observe.
• Studying “mental processes” has been highly dependent on the methods available
to psychologists.
• Early efforts to study mental processes relied on the use of introspection, or the
personal observation of your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Because it’s
difficult for others to confirm one’s introspections, they are hard to validate using
the scientific method.
• Brain imaging methods have dramatically improved our ability to reliably study
mental processes.
2. Psychology as a Hub Science
• Most occupations require some degree of understanding of people and their
behavior. Psychology is integral to a wide variety of professions.
• When Kevin Boyack and his colleagues used journal articles to create a map of
how different concentrations link to each other, they realized that psychology is
one of the major hub sciences—many of the articles showed strong connections
between psychology and other disciplines, such as medical sciences, education,
social sciences, etc.
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Reflections
§ What have you learned so far about the link between psychology and the world
around us?
§ What did you find particularly surprising or interesting?
Objective
§ LO1: Explain the subject matter that psychologists study, addressing the meaning
of mind and psychology’s role as a hub science.
§
LO2: Analyze the respective contributions of philosophy and the physical
sciences as the “roots” of modern psychology.
II.
WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGY’S ROOTS?
The Philosophers’ Questions/The Physical Scientists’ Methods
Objective
§ LO2: Analyze the respective contributions of philosophy and the physical
sciences as the “roots” of modern psychology.
1. The Philosophers’ Questions
• Plato (427-347 B.C.) was one of the first philosophers to address the question,
“What is the mind?”
•
Plato described the mind as having three parts that must be in balance: spirit,
reason, and appetite. He used the analogy of a team of horses to explain how
these three parts work in concert. The horses (spirit and appetite) are guided by a
driver (reason). This is akin to Freud’s tripartite model of the mind: the id (inborn
aggressive and sexual impulses), the ego (self), and the superego (conscience).
•
Philosophers were split between dualism, the idea that the body and mind are
different and separate (Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato), and monism, the idea
that the body and mind are not separate (Democritus and Aristotle).
•
With the fall of Ancient Greece and Rome, monism lost favor and dualism was
the predominant belief. Christian thinkers wrote about a duality between body and
soul. Dualism continued to have prominence throughout the Renaissance.
•
Rene Descartes (1596-1650) was a proponent of mind-body dualism, the belief
that the body is mechanical but that the mind is a non-physical entity not suitable
for scientific inquiry. He also believed that ideas and emotions were innate.
•
Empiricists (17th century British school of philosophy) saw the mind as a “blank
slate” or tabula rasa at birth that is filled as an individual experiences the world.
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•
Empiricism gave rise to behaviorism (20th century), which holds that behaviors
are the result of experience and can be directly observed.
•
The philosophical debate about the source of knowledge is akin to the
psychologist’s pursuit to determine the relative contributions of nurture and nature
to behavior.
•
Contemporary scientists believe in monism, but accept that there is a reciprocal
relationship between biology and behavior, and that the mind is the result of
complex interactions between inborn characteristics and experiences.
•
Philosophy and psychology are closely intertwined, with the former giving rise to
the latter. Nineteenth century philosophers such as Alexander Bain (1818-1903)
argued for the experimental study of human behavior and as this testing occurred,
psychology took shape as a separate discipline.
2. The Physical Scientists’ Methods
• Ancient Physicians
§
As many as 7,000 years ago, healers used trepanation (drilling holes into the
skull) to address some conditions, indicative that they believed the head and
brain had some relationship to the mind.
§
Early Egyptians understood that the paralysis of the body was permanent and
due to brain damage.
§
As early as 500 B.C., Greek physicians began to systematically dissect human
bodies, concluding the brain was the organ of memory, thinking, and
understanding. That saw the connection of the brain to the sense organs. They
recognized the brain as the source of emotional problems.
§
Greek physicians held a theory of personality that is affected by “humors,” or
relative amounts of four fluids in the body: yellow bile, black bile, blood, and
phlegm. Bleeding patients was a practical application of this theory. The theory
remained popular until the 19th century.
§
Development of technology: 17th and 18th centuries scientists used new
technologies to make discoveries about the human body and mind. For example,
they used the light telescope to discover that a single sensory nerve carries only
one type of information.
§
Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894) discovered that it took longer for
participants to react when their toe was touched than when their thigh was
touched (because it is farther from the brain and the signal takes longer to
travel). This research contributed to a more scientific, less mystical view of the
nervous system.
III. HOW DID THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY BEGIN?
Objective
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Exercise: The Introspection Illusion
The introspection illusion is the tendency for people to treat their own introspections as
reliable when making judgments about themselves, but judge other people on the basis
of their behavior. Listen to this podcast:
Fodor, James. (2010). “Episode 7: The Introspection Illusion.” The Science of
Everything. Available at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-science-ofeverything/id385427377. [Accessed 25 May 2012].
Consider the following:
Think of a time when you felt you were misinterpreted on the basis of your actions,
instead of your true beliefs or feelings (e.g., arriving late because you didn’t care about
the other party). Now try to think of a time when you might have been guilty of the
introspection illusion. What happened? What might you have done differently?
§
LO3: Compare and contrast the early movements in psychology – structuralism,
Gestalt psychology, functionalism, behaviorism, psychodynamic theory, and
humanism – in terms of leading figures, core principles, and contribution to
modern psychology.
1. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) and Structuralism
• Credited with being the first psychologist
•
Conducted the first psychological experiment in his laboratory at the University
of Leipzig in 1879: a test of reaction time (How quickly after hearing a ball drop
onto a platform could a person respond by striking a telegraph key?)
•
Believed the goal of psychology was to understand consciousness
•
Viewed mental experience as a hierarchy: the mind constructs an overall
perception out of building blocks made up of separate sensations and emotional
responses
2. Edward Titchener (1867-1923)
• One of Wundt’s students who expanded on Wundt’s work to establish a theory of
structuralism
o
•
Structuralism: the mind can be broken down into the smallest elements of
mental experience (a parallel to the physical sciences that was focused on
breaking down matter into molecules, elements, and atoms)
Employed introspection as an experimental technique
o
Wundt’s introspection is focused on an action being representative of an
internal state. Titchener would instruct research participants to describe an
object in great detail, the details serving as the building blocks of the
mind’s overall perception of the cup.
3. Gestalt Psychology
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•
A group of early 20th century German psychologists, including Kurt Koffka, Max
Wertheimer, and Wolfgang Kölher rejected the structuralists’ approach and
founded Gestalt psychology.
•
Gestalt means “form” or a “whole”
•
Gestalt psychologists believed that breaking down a whole perception into its
component parts would result in a loss of important psychological information.
They emphasized the importance of context in perception. (The whole is greater
than the sum of the parts.)
•
Max Wertheimer conducted an experiment in 1912 that demonstrated the apparent
movement of objects, launching the Gestalt psychology movement. He used a
stroboscope to create the perception of movement, using the appearance and
disappearance of lines. He concluded that there must be more to perception than
just sending elements in order to perceive stationary lines as moving. (This
discovery has been practically applied to moving words in scrolling electric signs,
an illusion created by simply timing lights to blink on and off.)
§
Today, Gestalt principles of perception are applied to design to draw our eyes in
certain ways, induce us to perceive hidden messages, and create striking
memorable images.
Reflections
§ What relationship does this have with psychology?
§ Think of an example.
In the first lecture, Dr. Charlotte talked about not “seeing” the partially hidden
camels (a tourist attraction) during a vacation on the beach in Mexico.
Early Movements (continued)
William James (1842-1910) and Functionalism
• Functionalism viewed behavior as purposeful because it leads to survival. It was
influenced by the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species in 1859.
•
Functionalists were interested in why behavior and mental processes worked in a
particular way.
•
William James was the principle proponent of Functionalism. He wrote Principles
of Psychology, a textbook that dominated the field for 50 years. James offered a
course in psychology at Harvard and had a lab that predated Wundt’s, but his lab
was used primarily for demonstration, rather than research, so Wundt is still
credited as the first psychologist.
•
James coined the term stream of consciousness to describe the flow of ideas
people experience when they are awake. He also wrote “The Varieties of
Religious Experience”
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•
James emphasized the role of evolution in mental processes and behavior. The
value of an activity depended on its consequences. Behavior that increased
survival is repeated and those that are irrelevant or harmful are abandoned.
•
Although James didn’t establish a particular school of psychology, his ideas
continue to be integral to the work of many contemporary psychologists.
Video Connection
The following is a simple but effective online clip that demonstrates the differences between
Wundt and James:
“Wundt and James: Structuralism and Functionalism.” (March 2011). Psychology 101: The
Animated TextVook. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW6nm69Z_IE (1:11).
[Accessed 25 May 2012].
Early Movements (continued)
The Behaviorists and the Cognitive Revolution
• Behaviorism, which focuses on observable, measurable behaviors, gained favor
in the first half of the 20th century. Many behaviorists studied animals, and relying
on Darwin’s evidence linking animals to humans, extrapolated what they learned
about animals to humans.
•
Ivan Petrovitch Pavlov’s (1849-1936) discovery that dogs salivate in response to
the arrival of a dog Nadler or being harnessed for an experiment (indicating that
they associated these signals with the arrival of food) gave rise to the Classical
Conditioning theory of learning.
•
John B. Watson (1878-1958) came to the same conclusions as Pavlov while
studying rats. He was a proponent of the British empiricists “blank slate”
understanding of the mind, believing that he could take any infant and raise them
to become any type of specialist regardless of the baby’s talents, abilities, or
history. Watson applied his theory to advertising, discovering that a product could
be made successful by building an association between the product and an
appealing image.
•
Edward Thorndike (1874-1949) proposed a law of effect, which suggested that
behaviors followed by pleasant or helpful outcomes would be more likely to occur
in the future, whereas behaviors followed by unpleasant or harmful outcomes
would be less likely to occur. He based this on observations of cats’ behavior in a
puzzle box—through trial and error learning, the cats would escape faster and
faster on successive trial, repeating effective behaviors and abandoning
ineffective ones.
•
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) was interested in the effects of consequences on how
frequently behaviors were performed. He studied rats and pigeons in Skinner
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boxes, generalizing what he learned to human behavior, leading to a host of
beneficial applications in smoking cessation and treatment for children with
autism.
•
Ulric Neisser (1928- ) first challenged the notion that internal mental states (e.g.,
information, processing, thinking, reasoning, and problem solving) had no bearing
on behavior. He coined the term Cognitive Psychology in his 1967 book.
•
Cognitive psychologists used mathematical and computer models to illuminate
mental processes leading to observable behavior.
•
Behavioral v. Cognitive Approaches to Psychology: The differences between the
two can be understood by looking how each explains the development of
language in children. Behaviorists like Skinner believe children acquire language
in response to feedback. Linguist Noam Chomsky proposed that people are born
with innate mechanisms for learning language. Consider: Can these both be
correct? Why or why not?
Clinical Roots: Freud and the Humanists
• History of Treatment
o Throughout history, psychological disorders were largely understood to
be supernatural forces at work, and thus, there were no known effective
treatments.
o Improvements in science led to more natural explanations, but did little to
lead to effective treatments. People with disorders were experimented on,
often using dangerous and harmful methods, e.g., insulin shock.
o Between the 17th and 19th centuries, two scientific approaches, a medical
model, and a psychological model, replaced the supernatural explanations.
o Medical model: emphasizes physical causes of atypical behavior and
medical treatments, e.g., pharmaceuticals.
o Psychological model: suggests that atypical behavior can result from life
experiences, leading to maladaptive responses (fear, anxiety, anger, etc.)
o Psychological treatment: ranges from offering support to applying
cognitive and behavioral methods to help people think and problem solve
in new ways.
•
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
o Trained as a physician, he formed a theory of the impact of life
experiences on behavior known as psychodynamic theory.
o Freud formulated ideas and wrote about the existence of an unconscious
mind, the development of sexuality, dream analysis, and the psychological
roots of abnormal behavior, and developed techniques for treating
disorders. It is the classic view of therapy, an authoritarian approach in
which the doctor sat in “the big chair” (Tears for Fears song “Shout” in
9
Songs from the Big Chair Album) and was all knowing in his
interpretations.
o Freud did no real experimentation. His ideas are based on his thinking and
anecdotal work with patients, mostly upper-class Viennese women who
were not representative of the general population and are even less
representative now. Still, some of his ideas hold up to contemporary
scientific scrutiny.
•
Humanistic Psychology: In the 1960s, American psychology was largely
dichotomized between psychodynamic theory and behaviorism. The humanists
grew out of a reaction against the limitations of these two theories.
o Humanists extended the work of philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau into
a belief that people are innately good, motivated to improve themselves,
and only behave badly when corrupted by society.
o Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) introduced a theory of motivation, the
primary goal of which is self-actualization—to be one’s best self.
o Carl Rogers (1902-1987) developed a client-centered approach to
therapy, placing the individual undergoing treatment on equal standing
with the therapist, taking an active role in their treatment. Unconditional
love and mirroring are two principle approaches employed in clientcentered therapy.
IV. WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES?
Objective
§ LO4: Differentiate the seven major perspectives of modern mainstream
psychology in terms of typical research questions, research methods, and focal
causes of behavior.
1. What Are Psychological Perspectives?
• A psychological perspective is an understanding of behavior from a specific
point of view.
•
Psychologists often define themselves in terms of their perspective, indicating
their area of specialization (e.g., social psychologist, developmental
psychologist).
•
Graduate departments of psychology are typically organized by orientation, so
that students may develop expertise in this area. At the same time, many
Psychologists lay claim to 2-3 approaches in their research and orientations.
•
You Professor, Dr. Charlotte takes a primarily Cognitive Developmental,
Individual Differences approach. This mix is increasingly shown to also be
supportive of evolutionary perspectives.
10
2. Seven Perspectives of Psychology
•
Biological Psychology or behavioral neuroscience
o Focuses on the relationships between mind and behavior and their
underlying biological processes
o Methods for observing brain activity helped advance this field.
o Using the example of memory: Biological psychology approaches
memory by studying the mechanisms used to store and retrieve memories.
•
Evolutionary Psychology
o Attempts to answer how our bodies and minds have been shaped by the
need to survive and thrive
o Basic principle: Our current behavior exists because it provided some
advantage in survival and reproduction to our ancestors.
o Using the example of memory: Evolutionary psychologists would be
interested in the fact that we have a good memory for faces, particularly of
those who have cheated us in the past, because being cheated out of food
would have meant starvation to our ancestors.
•
Cognitive Psychology
o Focuses on the process of thinking, information processing, reasoning, and
problem solving
o Using the example of memory: Cognitive psychology addresses how
different types of information are processed, stored, and retrieved (e.g.,
remembering a date versus riding a bike), why we might have difficulty
remembering, and what we can do to make our memories more efficient
•
Social Psychology
o Describes the effects of the social environment, including culture, on
behavior
o Basic principle: We each construct our own reality and the social
environment influences our thoughts, feelings and behavior.
o Using the example of memory: Social psychologists might investigate
how being in the presence of others influences the storage and retrieval of
data.
•
Developmental Psychology
o Explores the normal changes in behavior that occur across the lifespan
o Using the example of memory: Developmental psychologists might look
at age-related changes in memory.
•
Clinical Psychology
o Seeks to explain, define, and treat abnormal behaviors and promote wellbeing
11
o Using the example of memory: Clinical psychology is concerned with how
psychological disorders impact memory, e.g., traumatic experiences that
create intrusive flashbacks.
•
Individual Differences (Personality) Perspective
o Recognizes and investigates individual differences in personality
o Using the example of memory: Individual differences in “need for
cognition” can predict memory for verbal material.
V. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A PSYCHOLOGIST?
Objective
§ LO6: Explain why psychology’s role as a “hub science” allows psychologists to
pursue a wide range of career paths with respect to professional specialties and
research areas.
•
Note: In 2006-2007, more than 90,000 students in the U.S. received bachelor’s
degrees in psychology.
1. Degrees in Psychology
• An undergraduate degree allows one to seek employment in diverse fields
related to psychology, such as working in a research facility, rehabilitation center,
management, sales, service, public affairs, education, human resources, etc. This
reflects the “hub” nature of the science.
•
A master’s degree (two years beyond a bachelor’s) allows one to teach in a twoyear institution and, in many states, become licensed as a therapist. Master’s level
psychologists work in the healthy industry and education fields, including school
psychologists who may assess students for academic and psychological service
needs and/or counsel students.
•
A doctoral degree (2-5 years beyond a master’s) allows one to teach and conduct
research at colleges and universities (less than 28%), work as therapists (40%), or
other fields such as business, government, and schools.
2. Doctoral-Level Psychology
• Those pursing a doctoral degree typically focus on a particular perspective, taking
coursework in their area of specialization.
•
Not all people who receive a doctorate in psychology do clinical work.
•
Doctoral students who want to do clinical work have internships in clinical
settings and undergo supervised training prior to government-regulated licensure
that adds another year to their graduate studies.
12
•
Psychologists differ from psychiatrists in that they are not medical doctors and,
typically, cannot prescribe medication (currently only allowed in New Mexico
and Louisiana).
VI. INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS FROM THE
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, AN ONGOING THEM
THROUGHOUT THIS COURSE!
Relationships as a Lens
Objective
§ LO5: Analyze the ways in which the seven major perspectives can be integrated
to address a single psychological problem or topic.
Consider and issue that students may frequently encounter regarding relationships (e.g.,
the psychological issues involved with sharing a small dorm room for the first time,
or having a tendency to feel secure or insecure in a first romantic relationship….)
How one psychologist might approach this topic given their perspective. After each
person has had a turn, the group should debate the ways in which each of the seven
perspectives clarify this issue more fully. Do some perspectives seem more applicable
than others?
Chapter Two ─ The Measure of Mind:
Methods of Psychology
13
Objective
§ LO1: Describe the criteria that distinguish scientific observation and reasoning
from casual, everyday thinking.
FUN Resources and Materials:
o Really? The New York Times Well blog. [This blog challenges (or validates)
common assumptions by exploring the scientific research on a subject.
o “Really? The Claim: Listening to Music Can Relieve Pain,” Anahad OConnor.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/really-the-claim-listening-to-musiccan-relieve-pain/
o “Really? The Claim: Holidays Can Affect When Expectant Moms Deliver,”
Anahad O-Connor.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/really-the-claim-holidays-canaffect-when-expectant-mothers-deliver/
o “Really? The Claim: Sleep Apnea Causes Sexual Problems,” Anahad OConnor.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/really-the-claim-sleep-apneacauses-sexual-problems/
o “Really? Does Exercise Boost Your Mood?,” Gretchen Reynolds.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/does-exercise-really-boost-yourmood/ Gretchen Reynolds.
o “Really? Toddler Twins:Secret Language or Babble?,” Tara Parker-Pope.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/toddler-twins-secret-language-orbabble/
o “Really? Does Faking Happiness Lead to Happiness?,” Tara Parker-Pope.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/faking-happiness-may-lead-toblues/
o “Really? Does the Pill Cause Weight Gain?,” Tara Parker-Pope.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/dont-blame-weight-gain-on-thepill/
o “Really? Can You Be Addicted to Food?.” Roni Caryn Rabin.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/can-you-be-addicted-to-foods/
WHAT IS SCIENCE?
Objectives
§ LO1: Describe the criteria that distinguish scientific observation and reasoning
from casual, everyday thinking.
§
LO2: Articulate how science uses testable and falsifiable hypotheses, data
collection, peer review, and replication to evaluate theories explaining
psychological phenomena.
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3. What Is Science?
• Science requires evidence, as opposed to “faith,” which is belief that is based on
trust and does not require evidence.
•
Science comes from the Latin scientia, which means “knowledge.”
•
Science refers specifically to a specific way of learning about reality through
systematic observation and experimentation.
4. The Scientific Mindset
• Science relies on objectivity. Objectivity means that conclusions are based on
facts, without the influence of personal emotions or biases.
•
Subjectivity refers to conclusions that reflect a personal point of view.
•
Observation of another human being is typically subjective—personal accounts of
the same event can vary greatly, based on how the facts are processed by an
individual.
•
Scientific methods promote objectivity and help prevent biased, subjective
observations from distorting the facts.
•
Scientific methods use systematic observation as opposed to “hit or miss”
observation. The latter involves making conclusions based on the events and
people around us, which is not necessarily representative of larger society.
(NOTE: You may not want to mention hit or miss observations until you conduct
Exercise 2.7: Everybody’s Doing It.)
•
Science relies on observable, repeatable evidence. Every day, observation often
ignores evidence, particularly that which does not support firm beliefs.
•
New data is always contributing to our understanding. One tenet of scientific
literacy is that scientific knowledge is always open to improvement and may
never be absolutely certain.
5. The Gold Standard
The “gold standard” for demonstrating the objective effects of a substance or
treatment is the double-blind procedure.
§
Participants do not know if they are taking a real substance or a placebo. This
controls for any effects of participant’s expectations.
§
A placebo is an inactive substance that cannot be distinguished from real,
active substances.
§
The researcher does not know if a participant has been given a real substance
or a placebo until the experiment is over, so as not to bias the researcher.
§
Using the double blind procedure allows the research to indicate whether
changes in the research subject can be attributed to the substance (or
15
treatment), or if changes are not significantly different than when taking the
placebo.
Exercise 2.6: The Gold Standard
Objective
§ LO1: Describe the criteria that distinguish scientific observation and reasoning
from casual, everyday thinking.
Consider a psychology study that employs a double-blind procedure and one that doesn’t.
(Dr. Reyes’participation in a Depression During Pregnancy study at Stanford.)
Reflections:
§ What are some of the difficulties in conducting double-blind studies in
psychology?
§ What might be some of the ethical considerations?
The Importance of Critical Thinking
Objectives
§ LO1: Describe the criteria that distinguish scientific observation and reasoning
from casual, everyday thinking.
§
LO2: Articulate how science uses testable and falsifiable hypotheses, data
collection, peer review, and replication to evaluate theories explaining
psychological phenomena.
The Importance of Critical Thinking
• Critical thinking is the ability to thinking clearly, rationally, and independently.
It is essential to scientific reasoning.
•
A critical thinker can follow logical arguments, identify faulty reasoning,
prioritize ideas by importance, and apply logic to forming opinions, attitudes, and
values.
•
To develop the skill of critical thinking, apply the following questions to evaluate
new information you encounter:
§
What am I being asked to believe or accept?
§
What evidence supports this position?
§
Are there other ways this evidence could be interpreted?
§
What other evidence would I need to evaluate these alternatives?
§
What are the most reasonable conclusions?
16
•
Signs that one is not thinking critically include:
§
Preferring to be given the answer, rather than figuring out a problem
yourself
§
Preferring to rely on gut feelings about decisions, rather than on reasoning
§
Being unwilling to change your mind in the face of contradictory
evidence, or refusing to review mistakes
§
Resenting criticism of your ideas
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Exercise : An Investigation into the Vaccine-Autism Controversy
Objective
§ LO1: Describe the criteria that distinguish scientific observation and reasoning
from casual, everyday thinking.
Resources and Materials
§ Access to the Lancet study
o PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) or
http://briandeer.com/mmr/lancet-paper.pdf [Accessed 28 May 2012]
(Retracted) Wakefield, AJ et al. (1998) lleal-lymphoid-nodular
hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in
children. Lancet, 28, 351, pp; 637-41.
§ Related videos, radio broadcasts, and articles
o “Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey Discuss Autism Medical Experts Weigh
In” (April 3, 2009). CNN Larry King Live.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0904/03/lkl.01.html [Accessed
27 May 2012].
o “British Journal Retracts Paper Linking Autism and Vaccines,” Gardiner
Harris (February 3, 2010). New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/health/research/03lancet.html
[Accessed 27 May 2012].
o “Measles Resurgence Tied to Parents’ Vaccination Fears,” Richard Knox
(April 5, 2010). NPR. (04:09).
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125570056
[Accessed 27 May 2012].
o “Study Linking Childhood Vaccine and Autism Was Fraudulent,” Scott
Hensley (January 6, 2011). NPR. (03:30).
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/01/06/132703314/study-linkingchildhood-vaccine-and-autism-was-fraudulent [Accessed 27 May 2012].
o Autism Vaccine Controversy. WebMD. (02:06).
http://children.webmd.com/video/autism-vaccine-controversy [Accessed
27 May 2012].
Many parents decline to vaccinate their children, or do so on an alternative
schedule, because of this study. Wakefield drew an association between the
Measles Mumps Rubella vaccine (MMR) and the development of autism in
children. Since that time, there has been a resurgence of measles that had been all
but eradicated.
Apply each of the five critical thinking questions from their textbooks:
a. What am I being asked to believe or accept?
b. What evidence supports this position?
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c. Are there other ways this evidence could be interpreted?
d. What other evidence would I need to evaluate these alternatives?
e. What are the most reasonable conclusions (at this time)?
Reflections
§ Would you give your own child this vaccination, based on everything you have
read, viewed and heard? Why or why not? Does this differ from what you would
advise someone else to do? Why or why not?
The Scientific Enterprise
Objectives
§ LO1: Describe the criteria that distinguish scientific observation and reasoning
from casual, everyday thinking.
§
LO2: Articulate how science uses testable and falsifiable hypotheses, data
collection, peer review, and replication to evaluate theories explaining
psychological phenomena.
1. Scientific Theories
• Theories are sets of facts and relationships between facts that can be used to
explain and predict phenomena. Scientists seek to develop and test theories.
•
Scientific theories should not be confused with colloquial uses of the term to
mean “guess” or a hypothetical situation. The best theories generate new
predictions as well as explain and organize facts.
•
A scientific prediction is typically given in a rigorous, mathematical form that
allows the scientist to state that under a certain set of circumstances, certain
outcomes are likely to occur.
•
A hypothesis is an educated guess that must be falsifiable and testable.
•
Falsifiable means that you can imagine situations that demonstrate your
hypothesis to be false.
•
Testable means you can evaluate the hypothesis using known scientific methods.
•
Hypotheses can never be proven to be true because future information and
methods may show the hypotheses to be false. All we can do is determine when a
hypothesis is false (and thus discarded).
•
Testing and developing a theory:
§
Generate a hypothesis (e.g., a causal mechanism or mathematical relation).
§
Formulate a testable prediction.
§
Conduct systematic observation (experimental or non-experimental).
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§
Reject or accept the hypothesis. Accepted hypotheses contribute to the
theory and help generate new hypotheses.
2. Evaluating Hypotheses
• After developing a falsifiable and testable hypothesis, scientists collect data to
evaluate the hypothesis.
•
Science is a collaborative enterprise—new hypotheses are generated based on
previous work, and the scientific community is called upon to scrutinize scientific
work through a process of peer review. It is added to the existing body of
information only if other experts in the field validate the study’s importance.
•
Other scientists attempt to reproduce study results by replicating these studies. If
data is replicated, it is quickly accepted into the body of research.
HOW DO PSYCHOLOGISTS CONDUCT RESEARCH?
Descriptive Methods
Objective
§ LO3: Explain the main goal of descriptive research methods and the ways in
which case studies, naturalistic observations, and surveys approach this goal.
1. How Do Psychologists Conduct Research?
• Psychologists use a variety of methods; descriptive, correlational, and
experimental methods are examples.
• Descriptive methods (surveys, case studies, and observations) are often the
starting place for a new research question.
• Correlational methods help describe how two variables relate to one another.
• Experimental methods allow psychologists to test their hypotheses and to
determine the causes of behavior.
• Each method has strengths and weaknesses and requires different types of
statistical analysis.
• Scientists have greater confidence in their results when they are repeated using
multiple methods.
2. Descriptive Methods
• Case study: An in-depth analysis of behavior of one person or a small number of
people. Interviews, background records, observation, tests and brain imaging can
be used to provide information for the case study.
o Advantages: Can be used when large numbers of participants are not
available or a particular participant possesses unique characteristics; can
use gathered data to generate and test hypotheses.
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•
o Disadvantages: Is limited in generalizing results to larger populations
Naturalistic observation: An in-depth study of a phenomenon in its natural
setting.
o
Advantages: By looking at a larger group, strengthens ability to be
applicable to the general population; able to observe people in their
everyday settings, rather than in a lab
o
•
Disadvantages: May alter behavior if people are aware they are being
observed; observing while people are not aware raises ethical concerns
Survey: Questionnaire that allows researchers to ask many people questions
about their attitudes and behavior.
o
Advantages: Provides a lot of useful information at a low cost; may have
generalized results when given to a large sample or subset representative
of a population being studied
o Disadvantages: Uses self–report, so responses and results can be
influenced by people’s desire to appear socially appropriate
Exercise:
§ Suppose you wanted to study the effects of exercise on mood—which of the three
methods might you select and why? What would be the goal?
§
Suppose you wanted to understand the characteristics of serial killers—which
method would you use, and why? What would be the goal?
§
Suppose you wanted to study the role of stress in the eating habits of college
students—which method might you use then and why? Again, what would be the
goal?
Lecture: Correlational and Experimental Methods
Objective
§ LO4: Differentiate the key features, strengths, and limitations of correlational and
experimental methods, and apply this distinction in designing a new study or
interpreting the results of a study.
1. Correlational Methods
• Correlational methods: Measure the direction and strength of relationship
between two variables
• Variable: Factors that have values and can vary like a person’s height or weight
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•
•
•
•
A measure of a variable expresses how much of the variable you have observed.
After measures of each variable are obtained, they are compared by conducting a
statistical analysis of the results
Three potential outcomes: Positive, negative, or zero correlations.
o Positive correlation: High levels of one variable are associated with high
levels of the other variable (e.g., height and weight)
o Negative correlations: High levels of one variable are associated with low
levels of the other variable (e.g., alcohol consumption and GPA)
o Zero correlation: Two variables do not have any systematic relationship
with each other (knowing the variable of one does not tell you anything
about the variable with other) (e.g., crime rates and full moon)
Correlation is not causation: We can know there is a relationship between the
two variables but we cannot know if one variable causes the other.
o The relationship may be caused by a third variable
o The variables may be influencing each other simultaneously
Why use it?
There are times where it would be Impossible or unethical to use experimental
methods with humans and ask them to place themselves at risk, but we can draw
correlations between existing behaviors in people and their functioning or health.
Correlation Is Not Causation!
Objective
§ LO4: Differentiate the key features, strengths, and limitations of correlational and
experimental methods, and apply this distinction in designing a new study or
interpreting the results of a study.
Lecture-Experimental Methods (continued)
2. Experimental Methods: When conducting an experiment, the researcher has a great
deal of control over the variables and context. Experiments allow researchers to talk
about cause.
• Begins designing an experiment with a hypothesis: “If I do this, then that will
happen.” To test the hypothesis , the researcher manipulates or modifies one or
more variables and observes changes in others
• The variable controlled by the experimenter is the independent variable.
• The dependent variable is the observed result of the manipulation of the
independent variable.
• Participants get assigned to one of two groups:
o Control group: The group that experiences all experimental procedures
with the exception of exposure to the independent variable
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o Experimental group: The group that does experience the independent
variable
• To prevent individual differences from masking or distorting the effects of the
independent variable, participants are randomly assigned to the control or
experimental group. Each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to
either group.
• Confounding variables: Variables that are irrelevant to the hypothesis being
tested, such as individual differences among participants that can alter
conclusions
• Limitations:
o Experiments can be artificial; people may change their behavior if they
know they are participants in a study. Variables may also not truly
represent real-life variables.
o Making a study realistic has ethical challenges in that it could physically
or psychologically harm participants.
o Independent and dependent variables must be operationalized; that is, they
can be defined and implemented in a concrete fashion. Different
researchers operationalize variables in different ways. Thus, methods can
vary widely from study to study.
3. Meta-analyses: A statistical analysis of many previous experiments on the same
topic. Typically it proves a clearer picture of the phenomenon being studied than
VII. HOW DO WE STUDY THE EFFECTS OF TIME?
Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Methods
Objective
§ LO5: Compare and contrast cross-sectional versus longitudinal methods for
studying change in psychological processes over time.
1. Cross-sectional study: Gathers groups of people of varying ages and assess agerelated changes. Data are simultaneously obtained from people of differing ages.
Advantages: The study is looking at a slice of time; subjects are not followed
over long periods of time
• Disadvantages: Cohort effects—there may be generational effects of having
been born at a particular point in history, which could confound the data (e.g.,
kids who never lived without the Internet might respond differently to violent
video games than today’s 40-year-olds for reasons other than age)
2. Longitudinal study: A single group of people is observed over a long period of time.
•
•
Advantages: Reduces cohort effects
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Disadvantages: Expensive; time-consuming; participants may drop out due to
lack of incentive or moves (impacting the size and how representative a sample
you have)
3. Mixed longitudinal design: Combines cross-sectional and longitudinal methods.
Participants from a range of ages are observed for a limited period of time
(approximately five years).
•
•
•
Advantages: Faster and less expensive than longitudinal method; avoids some of
the cohort effects of pure cross-sectional design
Disadvantages: Still retains some of the disadvantages of each (e.g., drop out
problem; still has higher costs and time associated with it)
Imagine that you are conducting a study on the effects of 9/11 on school-age
children who lived in lower Manhattan. Which would you choose: a crosssectional, longitudinal, or mixed study design? Why? What would be the benefits
and drawbacks of selecting this method?
HOW DO WE DRAW CONCLUSIONS FROM DATA?
Lecture: Reliability and Validity
Objective
§ LO6: Define reliability and validity, and evaluate a specific operational measure
of a variable with respect to these criteria.
1. The Importance of Valid and Reliable Measures:
• Validity: The instrument measures what it was designed to measure. To check
validity, determine if it correlates with established, existing measures of the
same concept.
• Reliability: Refers to the consistency of a measure.
o Test-retest reliability: Scores are likely to stay the same when re-tested
by the same measure
o Inter-rater reliability: Consistency in the interpretation of a measure
across different observers
o Inter-method reliability: Correlates positively with other instruments
that measure a feature of an individual (e.g., intelligence)
o Internal consistency: Items within a single test that measure a particular
construct positively correlate with each other
• Reliability is not the same thing as validity. You can obtain a consistent result
(reliability) that lacks meaning (validity), but a measure cannot be valid
without also being reliable
Lecture Lens: Stats
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Objective
§ LO7: Differentiate the kind of information conveyed by descriptive versus
inferential statistics in describing scientific data, and interpret the meaning of
specific statistics (e.g., mean, correlation coefficient).
2. Descriptive Statistics
•
Descriptive statistics help researchers organize individual units of data into
meaningful patterns and summaries, literally “describing” the data.
•
Descriptive statistics only tell us about the sample we have studied (to apply to
the general population requires other methods)
•
Frequency distribution: Can arrange scores from high to low and look at how
many people obtained each score. This can be illustrated with a bar chart or
histogram.
•
Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode
o Mean: The numerical average of a set of scores, computed by adding all
scores together and dividing by the number of scores.
o Median: Represents the half-way mark in a data set, with half of the
scores falling above and half falling below. It is less affected by extreme
scores or outliers than the mean, which averages them in. It is useful when
you have some very extreme scores that would impact the mean, making it
a poor “summary” of the data.
o Mode: Occurs to the most frequently occurring score, and is easy to
determine from looking at a histogram.
Exercise: Data Abuse
To get a better sense of how descriptive statistics can be used to “abuse” data, visit and
read:
“How to Lie and Cheat with Statistics,” Eric Chudler. University of Washington.
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/stat3.html [Accessed 27 May 2012].
Find , analyze, and critique a statistical claim in a real advertisement (either online or in
print media), based on this information. Consider bringing it in to share!
Descriptive Statistics (continued)
•
Variability refers to how clustered the scores are.
•
Standard Deviation (SD) tells you how tightly a group of scores cluster around
the mean. A smaller SD means that more scores are found closer to the mean and
a larger SD means that scores are more spread out away from the mean. To
calculate SD, subtract each score from the mean, square each difference, add the
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squares, divide by the total number of scores, and take the square root of the
result.
•
Normal Curve: A figure that illustrates how scores fall in any given population:
68% of the population falls within one standard deviation of the mean, 95% falls
within two standard deviations, and 99% of the population falls within three
standard deviations. This allows one to know where a score falls relative to the
general population
•
Descriptive Statistics with Two Variables
o When looking at the relationship between multiple variables, you can
illustrate with a scatter plot. Each dot represents the intersection between
scores on two variables of interest (e.g., shoe size and height).
o You can compute the relationship using a correlation coefficient, which
ranges from +1.00 to -1.00.
o Zero correlation: The two variables have no systematic relationship at all.
The farther the correlation is from zero, the stronger the relationship.
o Positive Correlation: When one factor occurs, the other factor is very
likely to occur.
o Negative Correlation: When one factor increases, the other decreases.
3. Inferential Statistics: Statistical methods that allow experimenters to extend
conclusions from samples to larger populations, i.e., what the results might mean
more generally if we find a “difference between two or more groups”
Statistical significance: In order to declare that an intervention shows an effect, pr that
some difference between groups is “real” it has to be statistically significant, that is, there
is only a five out of 100 chance that an observed difference is possible by chance
( p < .05 as the “gold standard” here) . We say that statistically significant means “Not
likely due to chance!”
Exercise: The Home Field Advantage
To get a better sense of how inferential statistics “work” in a everyday intuitive example like baseball (We
won’t actually compute any at this time) watch William Spaniels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE-W1heMZlU
VIII.RESEARCH ETHICS
Objective
§ LO8: Evaluate specific psychology studies in terms of the ethical guidelines for
using human and animal participants in research.
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1. Research Ethics
• Institutional Review Board (IRB): Researchers working in universities and
other agencies receiving federal funding must receive the approval of IRBs for
human participant research and institutional animal care and use committees
(IACUCs) before conducting research.
o They must include one member of the community outside of the
institution or agency to ensure the research is not conducted in secret.
o They are guided by federal regulations and research ethics endorsed by
professional societies (e.g., American Psychological Association)
o These procedures do not extend to institutions that aren’t federally funded
such a private corporations.
2. Human Participants: At the core of ethical standards for human research is that
participation is voluntary.
• Reasonable Incentives: Pay or extra credit for participation must not be so
extreme that they become a primary motivation for prospective volunteers.
• Informed Consent: Researchers must provide prospective participants with a
form that details the purpose of the study and what types of procedures will
occur.
o This is sometimes complicated by whether the person is limited in his/her
ability to provide informed consent (often for the same reasons that person
is being studied, e.g., children, people with schizophrenia, or those with
late-stage Alzheimer’s). The IRB evaluates these ethical dilemmas caseby-case.
• Do No Harm: Researchers must take care that no harm comes to participants.
o Sometimes, mild deception is necessary to conduct a study (blinding the
participant to the true purpose of the study so that person won’t alter
behavior). Afterwards, researchers must take care to debrief the
participant.
o Treatment must not be withheld: Consider the Tuskegee experiment in
which 400, impoverished African-American men who contracted syphilis
were denied penicillin in order to study the progression of the disease.
• Private and Confidential
o Participants must have control over the degree to which their information
is shared (e.g., medical records)
o Confidentiality refers to the participants’ rights to not have their
information revealed to others without obtaining consent from the
participant. It is maintained by substituting codes for names and locking
away data.
3. Animal Subjects: Use of animals as research subjects is still hotly debated.
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•
•
•
•
Prevalence: Currently 7-8% of the published psychology research in journals
involves the use of animals as research subjects; 90% of animals used are
rodents and birds; and 5% or less involves monkeys and other primates. Use
of cats and dogs is rare.
Necessity: Research using animals must demonstrate a clear purpose, such as
benefiting health of humans or other animals
Care: Animals must receive excellent housing, food, and veterinary care.
Suffering: Pain and suffering must be minimized. The APA provides
guidelines for use of pain, surgery, stress, and deprivation with animal
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